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Ok for the day but wish we had gone somewhere else

During the summer holidays my friend and I took our children to Nickelodeon land which is situated in Blackpool pleasure beach. It is quite frustrating that Blackpool pleasure beach will not allow you to take sandwiches or drinks in with you for your lunch and so you do need to either eat in the park or head out of the park and get your hand stamped so you are able to return a little later on. We had planned on heading out of the park to eat because we thought that it would be cheaper but whilst in Nickelodeon land we noticed the Big Pizza Kitchen which offered all you could eat lunch and decided to try there instead.

The restaurant opens at 11am and shuts an hour before the rides shut down for the day which obviously depends on season.

==Appearance==

The Big Pizza Kitchen did look appealing from the outside I have to say. It featured lots of glass windows but you couldn't see right in to the restaurant so as a diner you aren't going to feel as though you are in a goldfish bowl which is nice in such a busy area.

There was a board outside the restaurant telling us that adults all you could eat cost £7.95 and children £4.95. There was no queue to get in and this did add to the decision to go in and eat there.

When we got in the restaurant there were plenty of dark wooden tables with black chairs around them. The floor was a dark laminate and with the bar in the corner the restaurant gave the impression of being more high street than one situated inside a theme park. There is an outside seating area at the top end of the restaurant but we didn't really want to sit outside and it was only as the restaurant became busy at around 12.30 that people seemed to start heading outside that way.

==Inside the restaurant==

When we walked in to the restaurant although there were a few staff scattered around there were none at the entrance and so we just made our way to a table and sat down. Seeing other people come in later there was a member of staff waiting to show them to a table so perhaps we should have waited but nobody rushed over to us!

A waitress did come over to our table after a couple of minutes and we asked whether drinks were included in the offer. We were told we would have to purchase them separately but unlimited refills of fizzy drinks were only a couple of pounds each and so we decided to opt for those. She took our order for the buffet and drinks and it was no problem to pay for our meals separately as we were both paying by card. When we had placed our order she returned with plates for us all to take down to the buffet area.

The buffet area compromised a large metal area where you could see the pizzas being cooked. This area had the pizzas and pastas on. There was also a free standing cart which featured the salad and dips as well. The whole area seemed clean which was nice and although I didn't see anyone cleaning up I can only presume they were doing it as they went along as there were no bits of food that had been dropped on the floor or the sides when I went up each time.

There were a few pizzas on offer such as cheese and tomato, ham and pineapple, spicy chicken, pepperoni and meat feast. There were also a couple of plates of sliced garlic bread as well. The plates were regularly topped up and I went down three times and saw a good selection of pizza each time so they were really on top of the amount of pizza required to cater for a busy lunch time in my opinion. I wasn't really keen on the pizzas for the most part and whilst I tried a couple of pieces I found that it was quite doughy. Everyone else on the table enjoyed them though so I suspect I was just being a little fussy! I did really enjoy the garlic bread which was thin and crispy but I wish they cut it in to eight as opposed to small rectangles because I felt greedy picking a few pieces up at a time!

The pasta on offer was all penne but one was in a tomato and herb sauce whilst the other was in a cheesy sauce with bits of ham. There was nothing to tell us what the pastas were and so although basic we did have to work this out for ourselves. I did find the pasta to be quite bland and tasteless in all honesty and it was in no way authentic.

The salad bar wasn't particularly inviting in terms of offering lots of variety. There were basic salad items such as lettuce, cucumber, tomato, onion and corn but not a lot else and to be honest I expect more from a place which offers all you can eat salad as one of it's options. Perhaps they think people will just fill up on pizza and pasta instead but I would have liked a set up more like pizza huts salad bar which offers much more variety. Another negative was that there was nothing to say which any of the dressings were and so as such it was guess work and I decided to avoid them all in case I got something I didn't like.

Drinks was also self serve as we chose to get refills on fizzy drinks. There was ice in buckets for us to add to our drinks as well as straws too. Getting a drink was easy and there was never a queue when we needed one despite the restaurant becoming very busy around 12.30.

When in the restaurant we asked if there was a toilet and were told only the ones outside which were for the whole of Nickelodeon land and I did think this was disappointing. We were paying for a meal and it wasn't cheap in my opinion and so I would expect to be able to go to the toilet whilst in there.

==Overall==

Whilst the food was ok I don't think I would go back to this restaurant simply because I wasn't completely taken with the food and there were a few too many negatives to make it a first class experience. When I pay £16 ish for a lunch I do expect to know what I am getting and to have a good choice on an all you can eat buffet and there just wasn't enough in my opinion.